you were coming in a crowd
by NeueHaasGrotesk
Summary: "Perhaps," Kaito whispers, aware that Saguru's awake, aware that it makes him a terrible person to say what he is about to say next. "It would have been better if he were dead." / Kuroba Toichi returns from the dead on an average Tuesday, and Kaito runs away from home.


At this point in his life, Saguru has heard a good many things about Kuroba Toichi. Notably, that he is good at magic, that he is charming, and that he is dead. The dossier in his study (the one that Kaito pretends to be ignorant of) is half the thickness of the novel that he is currently reading, and on maudlin evenings, proves to be no less entertaining nor sobering. According to Kaito, his father was a good man. He was a bit of a rascal, but he never meant any harm. Ultimately, he was kind.

Kaito is wrong

There are two important things that Saguru has gotten wrong in his dossier that needs immediate correcting:

Kuroba Toichi is an asshole

Kuroba Toichi isn't dead

Across the kitchen table, the first Kaitou KID smiles benignly at him, and Saguru does a mental tally of exactly how many people he would be disappointing if he reached across to punch Kaito's father in the face, not least of all Kaito and himself.

"More tea?" To the casual observer, Toichi seems unremarkably harmless. Perhaps a little stern, but he didn't look like he had any proverbial teeth in him.

As someone who has the experience of dealing with not one but two generations of Kaitou KIDs, Saguru knows better.

"No, thank you." Thanking his mother silently for schooling him in the art of being aggressively well-mannered, Saguru casts a pointed look at the clock. "I've imposed on you for far too long, and I really should get going before my parents worry."

"So soon? Please, Saguru—if I may call you Saguru? There is no need to be so formal. I should be thanking you for treating my son kindly, and for helping me in recovering my wallet earlier."

"There is no need to thank me for doing my part. Anyone else would have done the same had they noticed." Had he known, Saguru would never have interfered. Instead, he'd stepped clean into the trap Toichi had laid out for him like a complete idiot, the lamb into the wolf's jaws. He _had_ forgotten exactly how adept Kaito's father is at playing the long game, and really, Toichi wasn't the kind of man to sit on his hands when there is something that he wants. Saguru should have expected this ever since Kaito has made it his goal to ignore his family. Would have, if he didn't have his hands full with Kaito already.

As long as Kaito doesn't hear about this, there is still a moderate chance of Saguru possibly getting off scot-free.

"How old are you, Saguru-kun?"

Narrowing his eyes at the abrupt switch of topics, Saguru carefully schools his expression into indifference. "I will be turning eighteen this year."

"Kaito will be eighteen this year, too." The look of surprise on Toichi's face is so flawlessly executed that it smacks of condescension. Saguru smiles thinly at him in return. "Impressive, considering your achievements in London and Japan thus far."

This, from a man who had successfully conned the world into believing that he is—was—dead for as many years, and Saguru is immediately disappointed in his predictability. Were he a year or two younger, and poorer in the experiences and the lessons that Japan had saw fit to teach him, he would have risen to the bait and given himself clean away. Now, instead, he assesses Toichi assessing him, and wonders at the kind of desperation that would drive a father to such disgraceful measures.

"If I may speak my mind, Kuroba-san." Gentling his voice as he would with a victim or a witness, Saguru picks over his next words carefully. "I believe that it would be better for you to speak with your son directly instead of going behind his back like this."

Toichi has played by far too many cons for his mask to slip, but Saguru reads it all the same in the brief pause that follows, in the deliberate way he leans back in his chair. "From what I hear, you are working on a case for him."

"My duty as a detective—that is, to keep any and all information pertaining to my clients and cases confidential—comes before my personal relationship with you." Refusing to be intimidated, Saguru stares gamely back at him. "Pardon me for being straightforward, but we've only just met today. We are essentially strangers."

"You—"

The sound of jangling keys in the lock interrupts the rest of Toichi's words, loud and sudden as a gunshot. Immediately, Saguru's hands go to his bag, to—what? Throw it out like the few times he had seen Kaito do in his own residence? Before the panic has time to set in properly, Kaito has appeared in the darkened doorway of the kitchen, still in the wrinkled gakuran he had been wearing in the morning.

"Kaito, we—" A singular look from Kaito quells him immediately, Saguru shrinking back into his seat.

"So that's where you are. I had been looking all over for you." There is not a trace of anger in Kaito's expression to be found. Instead, he allows his silence to speak for him, and under the weight of his accusation, Saguru finds that he cannot bear his gaze and lowers his head. The student had learned from his teacher well.

"Welcome home, Kaito." Toichi says genially, Kaito moving past the both of them towards the stove, taking Saguru's empty teacup with him. "I happened to run into a classmate of yours by chance. How was school?"

With his back to the stove, Saguru cannot see what Kaito is doing. There is the sound of running water, the click of a switch, and he startles violently when a fresh cup of tea is placed before him.

"No refill for me, Kaito? I hope that you are staying for dinner this time."

The smile Kaito directs his father is as bloodless as it is opaque, one hand resting on Saguru's right shoulder in a show of possessiveness. "You know where the kettle is. Unless you've been away for so long that you've forgotten?"

"Kaito." Toichi, disapproving now, and Saguru really does not want to be here for this.

"Leave my boyfriend alone, old man." The hand on his shoulder trembles so slightly, Saguru seized with both the desire to take him someplace far away from his family and to also give him a good shake on if he was serious about agreeing to a relationship with him. "If there is something that you want to know, ask mum. I'm sure she will be happy to tell you."

"I'm worried." The admission is a strategic retreat on Toichi's end, the manipulation transparent as day to an outsider like Saguru, and a cheap shot at Kaito. "You are hardly home these days. Your mother tells me you've lost weight."

"Oh, good to know. Always been looking to go down a size or two for my disguises. Finish your tea, Saguru. We're going home."

 _Home, as in_ —Pushing away from the table, Saguru clears his throat uncomfortably. "I'm ready to go when you are. Shall I… wait by the genkan?"

"I'll be just a moment."


End file.
